Hinata looked at Neji who looked constipated. Today Team 9 will be working together with Team 7 and she has heard enough horror stories about Maito Gai's enthusiasm to be wary of meeting the man. She looked at Rock Lee and Higurashi Tenten who smiled at her awkwardly while Gai insisted on competitive training with a reluctant Kakashi.
Sasuke studied the Rookie of the Year before him. Neji looked capable and he wondered how his Interceptor Fist measured against the Juuken. Itachi said it was a stalemate whenever a Sharingan user met a Byakugan user. His team was a miracle.
Tenten eyed the mysterious Hokage's son. She stared at his blade and asked, "Can I see it?" He looked at her and she gestured at his back, "Your sword, can I see it? The craftsmanship is unlike anything I have ever seen,"
Naruto blushed from the telltale of the skin under his eyes. He shook his head and Tenten pouted, "Why not? It's so beautiful and so big!" She pointed, "And the Hiraishin kunai attached to the butt cap is so cute!"
Naruto drifted behind Hinata and hid his burning face with his hood. Tenten might not know this but complimenting the Zanpakutou is complimenting the owner. The Zanpakutou is an extension of his soul after all.
Kakashi, who knew everything, was dying from not laughing.
Hinata glared at Tenten, "Tenten-san, please stop. You are making Naruto-kun uncomfortable," She said all this while smiling sweetly though the veins of her Byakugan swelled from repressed anger. For some reason watching Naruto becoming flustered by another girl irked her.
Sasuke sighed on the side, "Tenten-san, please stop,"
Tenten blushed, "So-sorry. I'm just enthusiastic about good weapons. I have never seen anything like his sword. It's so...hypnotic,"
Naruto sighed and draw his Zanpakutou. The two teams looked at the blade and gasped. Tenten was tempted to take the sword and hide away with it forever. Neji stared at the unique wave patterns that swirled down the body of the katana, just like whirlpools. Rock Lee doesn't get it but he agreed that it's the most 'youthful' sword he had ever seen in his life. Sasuke wondered where Naruto find such an artwork. Hinata admired the whorls on the sword and whispered, "It's like an octopus's tentacle,"
Naruto nodded, "Akkorokamui's an octopus,"
"Akkorokamui?"
"His name,"
Tenten hummed, "That's a weird name to name a sword. Don't 'kamui' usually refer to a deity of sorts? Won't you get cursed using that kind of name?"
Naruto stared at her, "I didn't name him,"
Before he could confuse them more, Kakashi declared a competitive treasure hunt around Konoha. The two Jounin then disappeared to prepare for their treasure hunt. When they returned, they told the two teams to start on opposite ends of the village and those who found the most items and clues will win. They quickly left for their designated beginning position.
It started simple enough but slowly became more and more complicated. Hinata was relied on the most to explain things to either Naruto or Sasuke to make sense of the few riddles left for them. Some of them were challenging, like stealing a dango from Anko of all people. They let Naruto do the stealing and hightailed it out of her range though they can hear her cursing all the way over. Naruto felt like his days were numbered and already planned to apologize with sticks of homemade dango to placate her with.
They draw the line at stealing Ichiraku Ramen's secret family recipes but left a mark that they have been there so that Teuchi would know to better hide his family's treasured recipes.
By sundown, Team 9 won by a single digit.
Kakashi looked at them and Naruto answered, "I still have honor. Besides no one touch another family's treasure. Especially Ichiraku's. Not without war with the Hokage," He knew that the man and his mother would start a 4th Shinobi War to protect the Ichiraku's sacred recipe.
Kakashi nodded, "Bonus for forward thinking. It's a tie,"
Gai sobbed, "SUCH YOUTHFUL REASONING! KAKASHI MY MAN, YOU RAISE EXCEPTIONAL GENIN! I, AS YOUR RIVAL, AM MOST MOVED!!"
Kakashi grimaced at the volume, "Then please move elsewhere,"
The sun set and then rise once more on a new day...
Naruto yawned as he stretched his limbs on the ceiling before starting the day. These past months had been relaxing for him. But Naruto could feel that soon things will pick up again. He looked at Minato as the man evaluated their missions and looked up, "You have done the maximum number of D-ranks for fresh Genin quota. How would you feel about picking a simple C-rank?"
Sasuke looked excitedly at Kakashi, Naruto pondered on this 'simple' mission and Hinata twiddled her thumbs. Kakashi asked, "What kind of C-rank?"
Minato looked at Iruka who had taken the job to man the mission table that day, "Bring him in,"
Iruka left and soon after returned with a man smelling badly of alcohol, "These are the ninja I hired? They all look stupid and that one looked out of place in a country as warm and humid as Hi,"
Minato cleared his throat, controlling his temper. Kakashi hid his temper with a chuckle, "I assure you everything will be fine. If anything happens, I am a Jounin,"
The man snorted, "The name's Tazuna! I am the greatest bridge builder and you will be watching my back for me until the bridge is done!"
Kakashi nodded, "Noted,"
Naruto stared at the man and Tazuna shifted. He studied the man's steady hand and concluded that though he was a heavy drinker, it was a recent development. While he went to his room to prepare, he thought about the matter. Naruto sighed as he left Kushina alone after she bestowed a good luck kiss on his temple.
Something about the man's steady hand and his heavy drinking bug him...
Hinata smiled at him as they crossed paths and Sasuke joined them soon after. The three checked each other's supplies before settling down to wait for Kakashi and their client. Tazuna appeared along with their Jounin Sensei and hiccupped as he stared at them with bloodshot eyes. This time around his hands trembled.
They moved and Hinata used her eyes to look around. Feeling curious about what he read, Naruto asked, "So...does Nami no Kuni not have their own Shinobi force, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi hummed, "Well, there are many countries that don't have their own Shinobi forces. Tetsu no Kuni is the prime example, as you well know," He stressed this out because Naruto's cover for his otherworldly experience was to be raised in Tetsu no Kuni to explain his clothing choice, "And though there are other Hidden Villages out there in the world, such as Onsengakure no Sato that has decided to disband and become a tourist trap, and Nadeshikogakure no Sato is known for their all Kunoichi force, not all of them are as 'official' Konohagakure no Sato,"
He added, "The nations of Hi, Kaze, Tsuchi, Kaminari, and Mizu all have their 'official' Shinobi forces that are equivalent to their military force. Each one of these villages; Konohagakure no Sato, Sunagakure no Sato, Iwagakure no Sato, Kumogakure no Sato, and Kirigakure no Sato are all independent of the Daimyo's control but rely on the Daimyo for continual existence. As acknowledgement by the Daimyo of each nation, every 5 villages are led by a representative known as Kage. The Yondaime is our Hokage, Suna has their Kazekage, Iwa has their Tsuchikage, Kumo is led by their Raikage, and Kiri is ruled by their Mizukage,"
Naruto nodded, "What about other villages?"
Kakashi hummed, "From what I understand, they lacked the system of Gen, Chuu, and Jou that we used in Konoha or the other 4 villages. Everyone seemed to be of similar ranking,"
Hinata asked, "B-but sometimes they send their equivalent of Genin to join the Chuunin exam, yes?"
Kakashi nodded, "There are other villages like Takigakure no Sato and Kusagakure no Sato who try to climb up in the ranking to add their number to the likes of Konoha by being more 'official' with their system," He then gestured at Tazuna, "But small island countries like Nami no Kuni tended to rely on their natural surroundings for defense so they lacked their own Shinobi force, big or small,"
They were still discussing the Shinobi system when Naruto sensed two Reiatsu that resonated with each other that imply a blood relation. He blinked at the puddle and saw two souls inside a hole. Hinata tensed beside him but Kakashi acted as relaxed as usual. Sasuke noticed their reaction and Hinata eyed the puddle that they were now passing. He caught on and pretended to not notice.
"One down,"
Within seconds, Kakashi was shredded to pieces. Hinata paled but pulled Tazuna behind her, Juuken stance at the ready to defend him. Sasuke moved by throwing a kunai and a shuriken to trap the chain used by the brothers to a tree to interfere with their movement right after one went for Naruto as he stood in direct line to Hinata and their client.
*Clang!*
Their eyes widened when Naruto simply catch their poisoned blade and kicked the man lightly. The man grunted as he was kicked into a tree hard. He was then out cold. He looked to the other one who had detached from the chain and returned to attacking Sasuke...or rather going around him. At that moment Kakashi appeared and knocked the man unconscious.
Naruto looked at the pieces of logs. He would have been fooled had he not been using his Pesquisa to keep track of his team in case he needed to use his stronger attacks. He could also easily kill the two but he felt that Kakashi would want them alive.
Kakashi looked at the three, "Excellent teamwork," He looked at Tazuna, "There's a story here. They are not aiming at Sasuke, an Uchiha, or Hinata, a Hyuuga heiress, or even Naruto, the Hokage's son," Tazuna paled when Naruto's identity was revealed, "They also avoided Sasuke and aimed straight for you," He pointed at Tazuna, "Any reason why?"
Tazuna gulped, "I-I don't know what you're talking about!" He choked when Kakashi leaked a sliver of his killing intent. Kakashi just go Naruto back and even though the boy's strong, even though he knew his skin was like the blade he wield on his back, his heart still skipped when the boy caught a blade with his bare hand. He's not ready to lose his little brother just yet. If ever.
So he pressed, "Be honest or we are turning around right this instant, leaving you for the picking of the next pair of assassins sent after your sorry ass,"
Tazuna fell to his knees, "Alright! Alright! I'm telling!"
He breathed, trying to calm down though the shaking of his hands had gotten worse. Naruto whispered, "Souten Kisshun, I reject," A golden shield appeared over the man and Kakashi looked at Naruto in surprise. Naruto shrugged, "We need him sober,"
Once the effect of alcohol has been rejected, Tazuna blinked at them, "I...am just a bridge builder...but the bridge I'm building is important to Nami! Gato...that shipping magnate didn't like that kind of thing,"
Kakashi blinked, "Gato...one of the richest men in the world Gato?"
Tazuna nodded, "He presents himself as a businessman but he dealt in underground business too. Prostitution, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and child slavery...Nami had become his favorite port due to its strategic position as a port and the fact that no one gives a shit about a small island country like us," He gestured, "I used my fortune to build that bridge. It started small, just some harassing here and there but back then...anyway, it has gotten worse. Gato want me dead,"
Hinata whispered, "If you complete the bridge, people will flow in easier and Gato will have trouble hiding his shady business,"
Sasuke scowled, "We can't just leave the people of Nami like this!"
Kakashi nodded, "Why didn't you hire higher ranking mission? A group of Jounin would have dealt with this Gato easily,"
Tazuna started to laugh but it was a bitter, hopeless laugh, "And pay with what?! Gato stripped us dry! We have nothing! Even the Daimyo has nothing and he was a prisoner of Gato's after his whole family was taken out! Everything I paid with...that was all we have left..."
Naruto stared at Tazuna as he explained why he can't afford an A-rank or even a B-rank mission let alone an S-rank. He understood that Shinobi worked a lot like mercenaries; they work for the pay. They're not a charity association. But...
He stepped forward and looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi stared back at him, "You are going to help him?"
Naruto nodded.
Kakashi sighed, knowing that Naruto could go in and kill Gato. The boy have killed before, it was in his gaze. He also knew that the boy had eaten souls to survive in a world of soul-eating monsters. Gato was simply just another scum to Naruto who won't mind reaping his soul.
He groaned, "Alright, let's go finish this mission,"